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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26507848">The Suthay Chronicles Chapter 14: A Second Chance</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vicsvinny/pseuds/Vicsvinny'>Vicsvinny</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Suthay Chronicles [16]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Elder Scrolls, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Cyrodiil (Elder Scrolls), Gen, Khajiit (Elder Scrolls)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 02:40:28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,536</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26507848</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vicsvinny/pseuds/Vicsvinny</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>Ruins</em>
</p><p>Cyrodiil is littered with crumbling ruins, caves, mineshafts, tunnels, monuments, and other structures originating as far back to the time of the Ayleids. And there could be even older locations, hidden somewhere. Lost to time.</p><p>Many of these ruins are ancient Imperial forts, walls, gatehouses, etc. That still stand, albeit much dilapidated and crumbling.<br/>Other ruins could be of Ayleid in origin. Ancient underground cities still full of the resonance of magic and other phenomena.<br/>Many of these host bandits, goblins, necromancers, undead, daedra, or wildlife that makes it perilous to delve in. However the promise of gold, treasures, and powerful artifacts has seduced many an adventurer to brave the risks. Most of which, are never seen again.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Suthay Chronicles [16]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1817335</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Suthay Chronicles Chapter 14: A Second Chance</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>------Somewhere in Cyrodiil------</strong>
</p><p>What happened last night? It was all a blur.. A faded memory..<br/>
Taz lifted her head from the ground, only for her to realize that this wasn’t where she had last imagined herself..<br/>
She looked around a dark, damp room, crudely constructed out of stone bricks, slowly decaying and cracking apart after millennia of disrepair and neglect.<br/>
This place looked awfully familiar to that underground fortress the Anvil rebels were holed up in.<br/>
The weirdest thing was, she had no recollection on how she got here. Or why she was laying arms and legs stretched out on a large stone slab.<br/>
And what’s more, she was stripped down to her bare fur..</p><p>All she remembered was getting into a big fight with Orcs, then she must’ve got hit over the head or something because she blacked out. Then woke up here.<br/>
She took another moment to inspect her surroundings.<br/>
Hung on the walls were various tattered tapestries of some emblem or sigil she didn’t recognize. Perhaps it was relevant in a different time, but now it hung dormant in the still and dusty air circling the room.<br/>
In one corner were a series of torture tools, instruments and gadgets. Plus a healthy dose of dried blood staining the wall.<br/>
She checked herself to see if it was by chance any of her blood, however there didn’t seem to be a scratch on her.</p><p>Cautiously she edged over to the side of the table, when she heard footfalls coming down the long echoing hallway through an open doorway to her right, and she froze up like a statue.<br/>
“Ain’t that just something huh? Cats appearing out of nowhere. Got a nice pelt on her too”<br/>
Taz remained motionless, one leg hanging off the edge of the slab.<br/>
"It's called <em>Khajiit</em> numb-nuts."<br/>
Soon, two men dressed in a mash-up of armour and furs turned the corner, and they too paused for a second after seeing her. Then they both snickered and closed the door after them.<br/>
“Up and at ‘em pussycat” One said as he wandered over, standing at one end of the table<br/>
“Who are you?” Taz muttered meekly, and shuffled back while covering herself.<br/>
The two men laughed<br/>
“You wouldn’t know who we are. So it’s pointless to tell you. Just know that we are <em>Bad People.”</em><br/>
They snickered again as they inspected Taz’s body as one would stare at a dancer in a Brothel.<br/>
“That <em>IS</em> a beautiful pelt..” One of them whispered to the other<br/>
Her pupils shrunk, her ears lowered and she staggered back on the table, trying to put some distance between her and the villainous people.<br/>
“Ha! I think you scared it Rufus” The other laughed<br/>
'Rufus' leaned in closer to her</p><p>“Relax kitty. We ain’t gonna skin you. At least not while you're alive. We aren’t COMPLETE assholes”<br/>
“Wha.. What do you want with me?” Taz mumbled faintly, her fur standing on end and teeth chattering<br/>
The men just glanced at each other, then back at her<br/>
“How old are you?” One of them asked with a serious tone<br/>
“25” She replied<br/>
The two men then grinned at her<br/>
“We’re gonna sell you into slavery then”<br/>
“Slavery?” She muttered back, under her breath<br/>
“Yeah. Whereas regular bandits would kill you, rob your corpse and 'prolly fuck it dry afterwards, we take a more.. <em>entrepreneurial</em> approach. And.. Well you're a beautiful specimen of Khajiit. Someone out there would pay a pretty price for your furry body.” Rufus remarked as he then took another look at her<br/>
“Pity though. You’d fetch an even greater price-tag if your chest weren't so flat.” He remarked after looking over her naked body.<br/>
The other man snickered upon hearing that<br/>
Taz felt a nerve click within her<br/>
“What??”<br/>
“Blame the market. It's how the world turns.” Rufus shrugged<br/>
Taz snarled at them<br/>
“Where are my friends? Did you capture them too?”<br/>
The men glanced at each-other<br/>
“We didn’t even really capture you. You just showed up here not a few hours ago. Passed out from a hangover or somethin. No one was with you. Unless you have somethin to confess?”<br/>
The other man, who Taz thought up the name <em>‘Toothless’</em> for, because he was missing a few of his tiny human teeth leaned in closer to her, brandishing his nasty, toothless smile.<br/>
“No. I don’t. I don’t know how I got here." She muttered softly. Still terrified of the two men standing above her in this vulnerable state.<br/>
“You musta got hammered hard then. We ain’t near any town nor Inn for days”<br/>
Taz gasped<br/>
<em>“Days??</em> Where am I??”</p><p>Rufus went behind her and forcibly pulled her off the stone slab and bound her hands with coarse rope<br/>
“Enough bantering. We have jobs to do. Now quit squirming”<br/>
Taz struggled and kicked the bandit in the shin<br/>
“Ow! Why you little fleabag..”<br/>
“Here let me” Toothless said before smacking Taz over the head with a heavy stick, which knocked her out cold almost instantly.</p><p>“You idiot. Don’t damage the merchandise” Rufus barked, shoving Toothless over<br/>
“Relax. It’s just a heavy rod. She’ll be seeing stars when she wakes up, but no damage was done.”<br/>
Rufus finished binding her hands and feet together. Afterwards he lifted her up over his shoulder and carried her unconscious body outside into the hallway<br/>
“These Khajiit are so damn light. I swear” He mentioned to Toothless, who was following alongside him<br/>
“I don’t understand how anyone can sleep with a Khajiit. Too much fur y’know? They is covered.” Toothless muttered, glancing back-and-forth from the unconscious, and bare Khajiit.<br/>
Rufus shrugged and ensured his grip on her was tight<br/>
“Some people have strange kinks y’know? Not that it should be any care for us. I mean, so what if some creepy nobleman thinks of a Khajiit. We get rich off of selling bodies.”<br/>
“You mean the <em>BOSS</em> gets rich.” Toothless replied back<br/>
“Hey we all get a cut. Problem is we’ve only found sub-par slaves recently. I can guarantee you such a.. <em>Beautiful Khajiit</em> such as her will fetch a handsome price”<br/>
Toothless glanced over at the unconscious cat<br/>
“Her chest is still way too small for our usual client to get excited over.”<br/>
“That creepy old Nord only takes Elves, you idiot. Last I checked Elves don’t sprout tails and fur and lick their privates.”</p><p>The bantering between the two lasted until they made it through the expansive ruin.<br/>
The place was overrun with bandits, all employed in the slave trade.<br/>
They bypassed several cages with captives held within, guarded by well-armed and armoured bandits.<br/>
Some of the captive slaves were male, but most were females of various races.<br/>
They slinked back in fear within their iron cages as the two bandits marched past them, carrying a naked and motionless Khajiit with them.<br/>
Before long however, they stood before a massive iron door.<br/>
Standing off to either side of it were two guards geared in a full suit of steel-plated armour</p><p>“Kirten. Matius.” Rufus said with a nod to both.<br/>
One of the guards looked directly at the Khajiit draped over Rufus’ shoulder<br/>
“She the one that just appeared out of nowhere spoutin’ nonsense about Daedra and beer?”  He asked while pointing at her<br/>
Toothless nodded<br/>
“Yeah. She’s the one. She wouldn’t come peacefully so I had to knock the lights out of her”<br/>
The two guards glanced at eachother<br/>
“You didn’t actually injure her this time did you?”<br/>
Toothless was visibly annoyed<br/>
“No I didn’t! What do people not understand that a <em>‘Beating Stick’</em> is not meant to cause permanent injury? All I did was give her a good whack.”<br/>
“If you say so.. Been a while since we had a Khajiit.”<br/>
The other guard snickered<br/>
“Remember the last one? She couldn’t stop trying to shag everyone who came near her”<br/>
Rufus rolled his eyes and gave a dissatisfied sigh<br/>
“Can we move this along? I need to drop her off before-”<br/>
Toothless waved him off and directed his attention to the guard, Matius.<br/>
“Didn’t you have a night with her Matius?”<br/>
Matius the guard glanced away for a second</p><p>“Hey. If you were in my shoes that day. Having some hot girl clawing at your leg for sex seemed like just the thing to lighten the mood. Even if she was a cat.”<br/>
Toothless threw his arms angrily in the air<br/>
<strong>“HOW THE HELL CAN YOU HAVE SEX WITH A CAT???”</strong><br/>
Rufus looked over at the other guard and shook his head<br/>
“Open the door. He won’t stop ranting for hours, and I need to drop her off before most of the clients arrive”<br/>
The man nodded and pulled on a lever<br/>
A few seconds later, and after a series of clanking and grinding noises, the massive iron door began to creak open with a loud metallic moan as metal brushed against the stone floor.<br/>
“See you at the banquet tomorrow” Rufus said with a grin before proceeding through the door<br/>
“I mean.. The Khajiit had tits and all of the good stuff. Plus she was really good at it I must say. A real natural.”<br/>
“Oh! So if an Argonian came up and humped your leg you’d be fine with it??”<br/>
“I mean.. Yeah. If she was cute. In a weird.. Lizard sort of way.”<br/>
<strong>"UNBELIEVABLE! YOU FURR-"</strong></p><p>The massive iron door closed behind Rufus, drowning out the inane rantings of Toothless.<br/>
He wandered down the carpeted hallways lit up brilliantly by braziers lining the walls.<br/>
He would never. Ever admit it to the guy. But, yeah. This Khajiit girl was actually kind of cute. And if he wasn’t on duty, he would totally have some fun with her.<br/>
If only he was paid enough to actually buy her right now..</p><p>He emerged through an archway into the dawning sunlight, rising above the endless sea of forest further down the hillside.<br/>
Far off to the south one could make out the bleached white ruins of an ancient Ayleid ruin. Rising brilliantly above the snowy treeline.<br/>
He wandered past a small crowd of rich nobles and their entourages as they were arriving in the courtyard. Perusing the ‘wares’ displayed in several cages. All occupied with a slave with only a thick blanket so they didn’t immediately freeze to death.<br/>
Rufus went up to the one empty cage, which sat next to a young Bosmer, who was curled up in the corner of her cage, whimpering like a child.<br/>
Her head raised ever so slightly as Rufus unlocked the adjacent cage and dumped Taz inside, before stepping out and locking it back up.<br/>
He then threw a blanket over her, and left back into the fort.</p><p>The Bosmer glanced between the fort archway where the evil man had vanished, and back at the Khajiit girl. Still laying motionless where she was dumped down.<br/>
She scooted closer, making sure her coarse blanket was still covering her body, as now all the fat, rich men and their guards were arriving in the courtyard.<br/>
For the meanwhile, none of the <em>‘clients’</em> seemed to give any care to them. Most of them were ogling over some big-breasted Breton who was giving them a show in her cage, which was the biggest one of the lot.<br/>
The Bosmer now sat against the bars of her iron cage, looking over at the unconscious Khajiit next to her<br/>
“Hey.” She whispered to the Khajiit.<br/>
No response came from her<br/>
“Wake up. You don’t want to be sleeping out here.”<br/>
Still no response came from the cat<br/>
The Bosmer knew that she had to wake up the Khajiit. What if one of the guards came over and thought that it’d be funny to take her out into the bushes? If she freeze to death, then she’d have scars and bruises like some of the other girls get when they are thrown back in the cages.<br/>
<em>Some never even come back at all..</em></p><p>She reached out through the bars, picked up a small pebble and gently tossed it at the Khajiit.<br/>
It bounced off her furry head, which prompted a subtle wince from her<br/>
The Bosmer held her breath as the Khajiit began to stir<br/>
“I.. Where…”<br/>
Her blue feline eyes opened and she looked around before tensing up and darting her head around in horror.<br/>
“You're awake!” The Bosmer exclaimed quietly<br/>
The Khajiit shot a glance over at her<br/>
“Where am I..” She muttered meekly, still looking around with a mixture of shock and panic<br/>
“You're at a slave deal. They beat you and threw you in here. So you can be sold and taken away by someone with lots of money.”<br/>
Taz yanked the blanket around her and shivered both from the cold, and the fact that she was publicly nude.<br/>
“This can’t be happening.. I thought I was dreaming before.. Or that I would be saved..”<br/>
She huddled in the corner closest to the Bosmer<br/>
“I thought like that too. A long time ago. But I was never saved.”</p><p>Taz looked over at the girl.<br/>
She was a pretty young girl. Or, at least Taz thought she was young. It's always hard to tell with Elves.<br/>
Long dark brown hair, green Elven eyes. Light skin..<br/>
Her face was smooth and dotted with an occasional freckle.<br/>
However, struck across the left side of her face was a long and visible scar. There was no visible damage to the eye itself, but the scar hinted at some past altercation of a sort..<br/>
Were it not for her looking like she was half-starved, she would be one of the most beautiful Elves Taz had ever met..</p><p>“How did you get here?” Taz asked<br/>
The Bosmer lowered her head and stared at the iron floor sprinkled with snow and slush beneath her. She sat on a slab of wood so she wouldn't be in the dirt and grime. For the most part.<br/>
“A rival tribe attacked mine. They killed most of the men, and took the women, children and me with them. They kept my mother and.. Forced me to run away into the forest. While wolves chased me.”<br/>
Taz’s ears lowered in sympathy as a tear streaked down the girls’ cheeks.<br/>
“I ran for so long.. I could hear the howling at night.. I blindly ran right into a trap by these evil men. And they threw me in here.”<br/>
She then looked back at Taz with tear-stained eyes<br/>
“I sat here, watching as they pointed at me and called me <em>‘an item.’ ‘A tool.’</em> Like I’m not even a person anymore..”<br/>
She sobbed profusely and tucked her head into the blanket<br/>
“Khajiit is so sorry..” Taz muttered solemnly to her<br/>
The Bosmer sniffled loudly</p><p>“Do you know how it feels?? I watched my father die in front of me. I watched as my own people took out his eyes and stabbed him many times like a pin cushion. I watched my mother get thrown between the men, as they took her clothes off. I was chased by ravenous animals for weeks! I lost everything!”<br/>
She looked away again</p><p>
  <em>“They're right. I’m not even a person anymore..”</em>
</p><p>“How.. How old are you?” Taz asked<br/>
“16…” The Bosmer muttered back after a short silence.<br/>
Taz took a deep exhale. And witnessed her breath become a cloud before her eyes.<br/>
Her tail then reached out from the iron bars and brushed up against the Bosmer’s exposed foot<br/>
She raised her head and looked down at it<br/>
“We must escape” Taz said after seeing the Bosmer notice her tail<br/>
The girl shook her head<br/>
“There is no escape. If they saw you reaching out of your cage they’ll beat you. If they saw you doing this with your tail, they’ll beat you. If you escape, they’ll hunt you with dogs. And Kill You. Then sell your body to some sick bastard.."<br/>
The Bosmer looked at the eyes of the Khajiit, and saw a tone of fire behind them<br/>
“We must try. There is always a way”<br/>
“You're crazy…” The Bosmer replied<br/>
Taz grinned and looked away, inspecting her surroundings to formulate a genius escape plan.<br/>
“Not as crazy as someone I know..”</p><p>There was no easy way she could see to escape this place.<br/>
These cages were locked from the outside with a key.<br/>
They had guards positioned on the edges of the courtyard, and up on the second level of the ruins were sentries armed with crossbows by the looks of it..<br/>
In one corner were kennels for the dogs the girl spoke about earlier..<br/>
In one of the feeding bowls was what she assumed to be part of a human arm.<br/>
She retched at the image of it, then continued her survey of the area.<br/>
However she couldn’t yield any amazing jailbreak strategies. There just seemed to be no escape. Like the girl mentioned.<br/>
However, like Mirian has told her before.</p><p>
  <em>“There is ALWAYS an exit strategy.”</em>
</p><p>And seeing as how Mirian had actually lived through her previous employment with the Morag Tong, she probably knew what she was talking about.<br/>
She looked back over at the Bosmer<br/>
“What is your name?” Taz asked<br/>
The girl gave a half-hearted glance<br/>
“Naia” She muttered quietly<br/>
“This One is called Taz. Trust in me. We'll get out of here alive.”<br/>
Naia closed her eyes and released a deep breath<br/>
“I told you. There is no escape. And sooner or later we will be sold off. Please don’t be mad but, I don’t want to make friends with you.”<br/>
She looked back over<br/>
<em>“I may never see you again after today”</em><br/>
Taz ensured that no one was looking, then reached out and placed a paw on Naia’s shoulder<br/>
“We WILL escape. Trust me.”<br/>
Taz then quickly retracted her hand after hearing footsteps approaching in the snow<br/>
Naia sighed again.<br/>
“I wish I could believe you Taz. But I’ve been here for so long. You just lose all hope after a while.”<br/>
They both watched silently as a guard strolled past them, looking over them both with a scrutinizing gaze.</p><p>“Well. Before Khajiit ended up here.. She had a friend who.. Is familiar with slavery.”<br/>
Taz was then struck with inspiration and she began to inspect the front of her cage<br/>
“Look… I want to believe you Taz. I really do. I want to escape.. But then.. I have nowhere to go. I have no clothes. No food. And no family. I’m young. I’m cold.. I’ll just end up back here or die horribly at the hands of some monster…”<br/>
Naia looked away, when she heard a very subtle <strong>*CLICK*</strong> sound from Taz's cage.<br/>
She peered up to see that Taz was reaching over the side at the lock on the front of her cage.<br/>
One clawed finger was pressed into it, and shortly after the cage door inched forward ever so slightly<br/>
A sudden silence befell both of them, as Taz looked back at Naia, her tail wagging on the iron floor ever so slightly</p><p>“How? Did..”<br/>
Taz then made it seem like her door was still shut and locked, and sat back up against the bars close to Naia<br/>
“Remember. Khajiit said she has a friend. And she may have taught this one a trick or two on how to get out of a cage..”<br/>
Taz then raised a hand and spiked her claws, while brandishing a grin.<br/>
Naia had the glimmer of hope appear on her face, before it quickly faded away once the pessimism set back in.<br/>
“Ok then.. How do you propose we sneak past the guards, the watch dogs and all the rich people who want to buy and sleep with us?”<br/>
“Let me think..”<br/>
Taz then returned to surveying the area</p><p>Whatever that big-breasted Breton woman was doing seemed to be attracting a lot of attention.<br/>
Amid all the cheering and applause, all she could make out was ‘Pineapple’ and ‘yoyo’.<br/>
Naia noticed that Taz’s attention seemed to be fixated on that ‘Camillia’ woman. The only thing she has been doing for the past hour was doing weird sex things with a pineapple and some weird string toy. Was Taz interested in that?<br/>
She looked back over at the Khajiit, and she could clearly tell that some kind of plan was hatching in the cat's mind.<br/>
Suddenly however, Taz stood up, holding the blanket up over her breasts and stared firmly at the crowd gathering around Camillia’s cage</p><p><em><strong>“DRAS’KAY ETOFI!”</strong></em> She exclaimed loudly</p><p>Naia didn’t know what Taz just said, however she seemed to have gotten everyone’s attention. As they all looked over at her.<br/>
What was she planning? How are they gonna escape if everyone’s looking at them?<br/>
What happened next surprised Naia more than anything.</p><p>Taz dropped the blanket.</p><p>A moment passed where everyone’s eyes were fixated on the naked Khajiit, who was now seductively running her hands along her body, bending down and showing off her curves and brushing her tail back and forth.<br/>
<strong>“SHOW SOME SKIN YA FURRY BEAST!”</strong> Someone called out, before laughter erupted and everyone turned back to Camillia, as she was now doing a spinning trick with the yo-yo.<br/>
Taz paused and remained standing in place. A chilly gust of wind blowing up against her bare, furry body<br/>
She shivered and wrapped the blanket back around her, before sitting back down, looking like she was defeated in a game of chance.<br/>
“What was your plan there??” Naia asked her<br/>
Taz exhaled discontentedly before answering<br/>
“Mirian always said a public performance like that would attract the attention of men. Guess it doesn’t work if your Khajiit..”<br/>
Taz pouted and stared forward blankly.<br/>
“Who’s Mirian?” Naia asked<br/>
“This One's friend. I thought that if I seemed sexy to the men, they’d come and buy me. Then I could convince them to buy you too”<br/>
<strong>“WHAT??”</strong> Naia snapped back, but Taz held out her hands<br/>
“Wait wait let me finish. Then, as we’re being brought back with the buyer, you and I escape then.”<br/>
Naia stared dumbstruck at Taz for a second<br/>
“The rich people have guards though. We would never make it far. Even if we do manage to run in the first place.”<br/>
“What better choice do we have in these cages?” Taz replied<br/>
Naia sighed<br/>
“I guess… But what if he doesn’t want to buy me?”<br/>
She peered grimly back over at Taz.<br/>
Taz reared her head back against the iron bars<br/>
“I don’t know.. I was told that there is always a chance of hope in any situation. But I don’t know if I can find it..”</p><p>They both sat silently. Shivering and starving in the crisp winter air as more slaves were brought out, others were dragged back into the fort. And a few were bought and carted away with their new masters.<br/>
Naia had her head buried in her blanket once more. She couldn’t cry anymore, for she found herself incapable of doing so. She just sat there, contemplating on whether it was worth it to keep going on like this anymore..<br/>
At least it was nice to have someone to talk to for once..<br/>
And it seemed like the stories she had heard about the Khajiit being evil monsters who mercilessly kill every Bosmer they see, didn’t seem to be true. Or, at least it didn’t seem to be the case with this Khajiit.<br/>
Whether or not Taz meant it that she was going to help Naia escape as well was truthful. It did help her spirits somewhat. And any false glimmer of hope is better than no false glimmer of hope.</p><p>A guard went by on his regular patrol. However this time he didn’t look over in the cages.<br/>
Naia wasn’t sure if Taz heard it, but a very faint and subtle *clink* sounded in Taz’s cage<br/>
She looked over, and there sitting on the iron floor of Taz’s cage was a small bronze-like ring.<br/>
Taz noticed it too, reached down and picked it up, before hiding it in cupped hands<br/>
“What is it?” Naia asked, trying to not look suspicious<br/>
“A ring” Taz replied<br/>
“It must’ve fallen out of the guards pocket” Naia replied, glancing over with her eyes as Taz discreetly held it out for her to see.<br/>
“It feels like it is magical too” Taz remarked as she felt it<br/>
“It feels like magic? <em>How do you feel magic?”</em><br/>
Taz clenched a fist with the ring, and held it underneath the blanket<br/>
“It’s like a gut feeling. You don’t feel it per say, but you know it’s there.”<br/>
Naia didn’t understand that at all. But she was certain that it would make sense to someone more intelligent than her..<br/>
“Do you know what kind of magic it is? Can it help us?”<br/>
Taz shook her head<br/>
“I don’t know. You need lots of training to know what an enchantment, or curse is just by looking or touching it. And you need to know a little on how magic works as well. I don’t really have any magicka to begin with..”<br/>
“Hide it. If the guards find you with something other than your blanket, they’ll beat you and steal it”<br/>
Taz nodded, however she slid the ring onto her finger, while hiding it under the blanket.</p><p>“I’m surprised that no one’s bought us yet..” Naia muttered<br/>
“How.. long exactly have you been here?” Taz asked<br/>
Naia didn’t move her head<br/>
“I lost count a long time ago. I think one guard said I’ve been here for years..”<br/>
“And you haven’t been bought?”<br/>
Naia glared over at her<br/>
“No.”<br/>
“Why.. Do you think that is?”<br/>
<strong>“I DON’T KNOW”</strong> She snapped back<br/>
Taz lowered her ears<br/>
“Sorry.. It’s wrong for me to ask”<br/>
Naia took in a deep breath<br/>
“No.. I should say sorry.. It’s just.. I don’t know why I’m here still.”<br/>
She found herself capable of whimpering again<br/>
“I just want to sleep in a warm bed for once. Eat a warm meal. Even if that means I get bought.. And used as a tool by my master..”<br/>
Taz closed her eyes and tried to breathe normally.<br/>
Her glimmer of hope was fading by the minute.<br/>
She just wants to see Mirian again.. She’d know what to do.</p><p>What felt like several hours had passed.<br/>
The isolated corner where the two girls were located received very little traffic. Most who came by were simply window-shopping. Only once did a man, dressed in fine purple linens stop and look over the Bosmer. Before he expressed his distaste for women with scars and moved on. Not even giving Taz a cursory glance.<br/>
Taz and Naia sat silently. They had nothing to discuss. Nothing to ponder..<br/>
Nothing to do. Other than to simply wait for the day to end so they can be dragged back into the fort, fed a few scraps of bread and put to sleep.</p><p>However, a sudden tingling feeling reverberated through Taz’s finger that had the ring on it<br/>
She opened her eyes and looked at the ring, but still hiding it under the blanket<br/>
She felt the same feeling now coursing through her hand. The same tingly feeling her body would feel when she was going through heat.<br/>
She was pretty sure that she had already gone through that phase for this period, uncomfortably hiding it both from Mirian and Haxal as they had journeyed up to Bruma.<br/>
Suddenly however, she began to see small blue lights, and no matter where she looked, the lights followed her vision.<br/>
Slowly more lights began to appear, forming lines and abstract shapes in her vision<br/>
“Naia!” She said, her eyes darting around trying to make sense as to what was happening<br/>
The Bosmer looked over, then her browline lowered along-with her expression as she witnessed something strange happen to the Khajiit.<br/>
“What the..”<br/>
The lights stopped forming lines and shapes in Taz’s vision, then she heard some kind of mystifying droning as the blue lights then solidified, then within an instant they vanished. Clearing up her vision.</p><p>Taz blinked several times and shook her head<br/>
“What did you do?” Naia asked<br/>
Taz looked over<br/>
“What happened??”<br/>
“I don’t know! Your eyes were just.. <em>Glowing”</em> Naia replied while pointing at her own green eyes<br/>
Taz blinked a few more times<br/>
“Are.. You ok?” Naia asked<br/>
Taz peered up at her when the sound of crashing and yelling sounded from the other side of the courtyard</p><p><strong>“I. AM. FREE!!!!!”</strong> A bellowing voice rang out over the winter air</p><p>“CONTAIN THE SLAVE!”<br/>
Several guards ran over to where all the commotion was coming from<br/>
Taz and Naia caught the glimpse of some kind of big fight occurring with a naked Orc. Who was winning somehow against armed and armoured guards.<br/>
Naia wasn’t given the chance to contemplate as to what was happening, as Taz was out of her cage and picking Naia’s lock with her claw<br/>
“We’ll never make it Taz”<br/>
The door clicked and swung open as Taz reached in, and grabbed Naia by the arm<br/>
“Screw that noise. We must go. NOW!”<br/>
Naia just nodded at her in reply.</p><p>
  <strong>------5 Hours Later------</strong>
</p><p>Naia leaned up against a tree as she glanced over at the corpses of two bandits and a dog that Taz was in the process of looting.<br/>
It has been hours since they escaped from that fort. And it has been hours that search parties had been hounding after them.<br/>
These three managed to get this far, before Taz ambushed them and killed all of them with her bare claws.<br/>
Naia had never seen anything like it before. She clawed at their throats and bashed heads against stone. It was brutal and savage.<br/>
And the way that she killed the dog..<br/>
However she felt no pity nor remorse.<br/>
These fucks had it coming. And it was exhilarating to watch Taz murder them.</p><p>Taz wandered over to Naia, holding in her hand a bundle of clothes she had stripped from the bodies<br/>
“Put these on.” She said, handing a pile to Naia<br/>
“But.. They’re from dead bodies. And there’s blood on them”<br/>
Taz stared at Naia<br/>
“Would you rather be naked and freeze to death?”<br/>
“Your right.. I’m sorry. I’m just still trying to get over the fact that I escaped.”<br/>
She peered up at Taz<br/>
“With your help.”<br/>
Taz quickly dressed up in the winter gear that the bandits wore.<br/>
It was fortunate that these slavers were pretty well equipped, in stark contrast to regular bandits that is. Now they both had winter clothing, and weapons.<br/>
“Your welcome.” Taz replied with a smile<br/>
Naia finished putting on her clothes, when Taz approached her, holding out a sword and it’s scabbard<br/>
“Take this too. In case we get attacked”<br/>
“Ok.. But I don’t know how to use one”<br/>
“Just don’t hurt yourself, or me with it. Let me do the fighting, use it as a last resort”<br/>
Naia nodded and buckled the weapon around her waist.<br/>
Taz did likewise, and afterwards the two looked over each-other. Now geared up and ready to wander for a little bit. And after having a bite to eat from the supplies Taz took from the corpses, they wandered on.<br/>
They bypassed a large stone road not far from here where they had set up an ambush. So that was as good a place as any to find some semblance of civilization.<br/>
Naia expressed that she was still cold. And while Taz also felt that way, they couldn't stop and build a fire. For they were being hunted still. They had to keep moving.</p><p>After several more minutes of trekking down the stone road, they had yet to see anyone.<br/>
Naia had remained relatively stifled ever since they made their escape.<br/>
Taz thought that the Bosmer simply didn’t want to draw anymore attention to herself. Now that she was free, she must have a lot going through her head.<br/>
In fact, Taz was happy to have Naia tag along with her for a while. It was always preferable to travel with some company, rather than just by yourself. It can get lonely out in the world, and having someone to talk to really can improve the mood and atmosphere.</p><p>“Hey… Taz?” Naia’s voice had taken on a more softer tone.<br/>
The Khajiit looked back and raised an ear to indicate that she was listening<br/>
“What do you plan on doing now? Where are you going?”<br/>
Taz took a moment to consider that. She herself didn’t exactly know what she was doing.<br/>
She had to find Mirian and Haxal again. That much was certain. But how?<br/>
“I must find my friends again. But first we need to know where we are.”<br/>
<em>“We?”</em> Naia asked<br/>
“Yes. You are coming with me. Are you not?”<br/>
Naia looked away with a nervous expression<br/>
“I.. I don’t know. I didn’t believe in you before  and thought you were stupid back in the cage. I mean.. I barely know you.”<br/>
“This One helped you escape. Didn’t she?” Taz replied with a swish of her tail<br/>
“Why do you talk like that?” Naia asked, perking her head back up<br/>
Taz shrugged<br/>
“It’s a Khajiit thing. Tamrielic is not my native language.”<br/>
“You speak it very well then”<br/>
Taz beamed a toothy grin at her<br/>
<em>“Tonsh jer Drenamer”</em></p><p>Naia huddled up her shoulders<br/>
“I just thought that you wouldn’t want me to be with you anymore. I mean.. You’ve already helped me escape and gave me a chance to do something with my life. I can’t ask anything more of you.”<br/>
Taz turned around and kept walking<br/>
“I have a feeling that Mirian is going to like you Naia. Of course I want you to come with me. You said it yourself. You have nothing left in this world. I can be your friend. That means you now have something in this world.”<br/>
A smile emerged on Naia’s face as she ran up alongside Taz<br/>
“You really mean it?”<br/>
“Of course. You can follow me as far as you need until you think you're ready to go off on your own.”<br/>
Naia couldn’t restrain herself, so she hugged Taz, which caught the Khajiit off guard slightly, however she soon returned the gesture<br/>
“I cannot thank you enough Taz. It means so much to me that someone cares”<br/>
<em>“Jer yosan Naia”</em> Taz said to her before they continued on down the path.</p><p>Taz strolled with a renewed vigour, forgetting almost entirely that she was now hungry and thirsty once again. They had to be nearing some kind of way-station or settlement soon.<br/>
Naia too had also forgotten of her declining stomach. She now had a certain sense of purpose and belonging. That is an astronomical improvement over what she was a few hours ago.<br/>
“Who is Mirian?” She asked with a glance over at Taz<br/>
“This One’s bestest friend” She replied<br/>
“And you said she’d like me?”<br/>
“I think so, yeah. She.. Uh.. Hates slavery a lot. So once she hears that both of us escaped, she’ll be very sympathetic”<br/>
“Sympathetic? What does that mean?” Naia asked<br/>
“Oh.. It means she will feel sorry that you had to go through what you did. She knows first hand how horrible it is”<br/>
“Was she once a slave too?”<br/>
Taz paused in her thoughts for a second<br/>
“Yeah.. Of a sort..”<br/>
“I can’t wait to meet her! You.. Do have a plan to see your friends again right?”<br/>
“Kind of. First we need to know where we are. Then….”<br/>
Taz sighed<br/>
“Try to find where out they might be..”<br/>
“You don’t sound very hopeful” Naia remarked<br/>
“I just wish I knew how I ended up with the Slavers in the first place.. I have no memory beyond getting ambushed by Orcs, and then waking up naked in that fort.”<br/>
“Maybe it was fate then. That brought you there. So we could meet?”</p><p>Taz looked over at Naia. The girl had a whimsical look to her, yet still she could see the scars of the girl's past buried behind those green Elven eyes.<br/>
“You believe in fate?”<br/>
Naia went to nod, but then she shrugged instead.<br/>
“I don’t know. Or I mean, kind of? I grew up in a small tribe in Valenwood. My people were very religious and we were taught of how fate leads us down our path in life. There is no changing it, however we cannot know as to where exactly it will lead us, leaving it unable to be predicted entirely, or truthfully.”<br/>
Naia held her arm nervously<br/>
“Or.. That’s just what I’ve been told.. But it does seem possible that fate led you and I to meet.. Does it not?”<br/>
“Perhaps. But This One has never really wondered about that kind of thing.” Taz muttered back with indifference</p><p>She then paused. If she recalled correctly, Bosmer have a strange thing they must partake in whenever something is killed. And Naia says that she grew up in Valenwood, and her family was very religious..<br/>
“Naia. Do you need to eat everything you kill?”<br/>
Her head perked up<br/>
“Do you mean the Green Pact?”<br/>
Taz nodded<br/>
Naia hesitated for a second, weighing the options and words in her head before she went to speak<br/>
“I… Don’t really know. I used to follow it back with my family in Valenwood but.. I don’t know if I need to keep following it”<br/>
“So.. You're not upset we left those bodies back there?”<br/>
Naia shook her head<br/>
“I think I should be fine if I don’t follow it”<br/>
“Will you get in trouble?”<br/>
“Probably not.. I mean you can find my people all across Tamriel right? Not all of them follow it. And what are the chances that Y’ffre will care about me anyway? I’m in a different world now. Not Valenwood”<br/>
“So.. Are you ok with eating fruit and vegetables?”<br/>
Naia stuck her tongue out<br/>
“Ew. No.”<br/>
Taz grinned<br/>
“I prefer meat too.”<br/>
“Well.. Obviously. I mean Khajiit are like anima-”<br/>
She paused midway through her sentence as Taz was now looking over at her<br/>
“I… I’m sorry.. That’s wrong for me to say”<br/>
Taz however gave another toothy smile and punched her in the shoulder<br/>
“No you are right. Khajiit have many traits befitting a hunter. Like a Tiger or Sabre Cat.”<br/>
She spiked her claws as an example<br/>
“I was always told that Khajiit were evil monsters, and that when your people invaded Valenwood, you killed mercilessly and burned great swathes of the forest. But.. Khajiit can’t be all that bad right?”<br/>
“You are referring to the <em>'Five Years War'</em>, yes?”<br/>
“I think that’s it. Do you know much about it?”<br/>
Taz shook her head<br/>
“Not really. Just that it was a brutal war. Perhaps it is true that Khajiit killed and burned the forest.. But that doesn’t mean the Bosmer weren’t as ruthless and cruel. War is war.. Many bad things will happen”<br/>
“I get that.. I’m just glad I’m with a Khajiit as nice and friendly as you”<br/>
Taz smiled back at her, then reverted her gaze forward again as they continued down the stone road to God's know where.<br/>
And she is glad to have given someone else a second chance….</p>
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